All in the Family
by pikapikatchu
Summary: Greg receives a letter from Neil Novak's son. Follows the events of 'Fallout' and every other Novak-related story of mine.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys!**

**To make up for making you wait soooo long for the last chapter of my previous story, I upload this new story today! I hope you'll enjoy it! :)**

**Big Love,**

**pikapikatchu**

* * *

"Nah, he won't get off my back anytime soon." Greg gave Nick a soft smile as the two were standing in the locker room. He had made a pretty big mistake at a crime scene three days ago, so Russell was supervising him on every scene for the next few days. He looked at his watch as he quickly slammed the door of his locker. "...and I'm running late again!" He ran off.

Nick shook his head chuckling as he opened his locker. While doing so, he noticed a folded paper lying on the floor in front of Greg's locker. "Hey Greg, does this belong to you?" he asked while taking a few steps outside the locker room, but the young CSI was already gone, so Nick decided to take a look at it, hoping to find out who it belonged to.

* * *

Greg was able to get away from Russell at their scene. While the supervisor was working the interior of their murder scene, Greg was outside looking for evidence. He tried to focus real hard on his work, trying to avoid another mistake. His concentration quickly broke as he saw Nick walking up to him. "Hey. What are you doing here?" He smiled at his colleague.

Nick was holding the folded paper in his hand with a serious and concerned look on his face. "Why didn't you tell me about this?"

"What is it?" Greg asked confused. He didn't recognize it at first. "Wait... Were you in my locker?!"

Nick shook his head. "Of course not. It was lying on the floor in front of it."

Greg walked over to grab it out of Nick's hand. "...You didn't have to drive out here to give it to me."

"That's not why I came here. I asked you a question."

"It's no big deal, that's why."

"When did you get the letter?"

"...I don't remember exactly."

"Three days ago, maybe?"

Greg sighed annoyed as he bended down to pick up some cigarette butts. "Maybe, but the mistake I made had absolutely nothing to do with it."

"Well, who is this guy and what does he want from you?"

Greg gave Nick a look as he got up again. "Like you don't already know."

"I don't. I just read a few lines until I realized what this was about. I'd rather hear it from you."

Greg looked a bit nervous as he watched Russell walk up to them. "I can't talk right now, Nick. ...Neil Novak has a son."

* * *

Nick was anxiously waiting in the break room for Greg to come back from his crime scene. When he walked in, Nick got him a cup of coffee. "Everything went well at your scene?"

Greg nodded as he sat down. "You know, I was contemplating telling you about it."

"...So why didn't you?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I wanted to go on with my life as soon as possible."

"So what's written in that letter?"

"Well, Novak's son just heard about it all, you know? That he'd been arrested and that he's in a coma and... He wants to apologize to me."

Nick nodded. "And?"

Greg shrugged again. "I didn't read much further."

"Why not? Aren't you curious?"

"I don't need his apologies, he didn't do anything wrong. What could he tell me that I needed to know, anyways?"

"You just don't care?" When Greg nodded, Nick went on. "Alright, hand it over."

"Why?"

"Because you don't care, but I do."

"Nick, come on. It's none of your business."

"I need to read it because I know you care. Otherwise you would've thrown it away already."

Greg sighed annoyed. "Maybe I want to read it someday, but not now."

"Where is the letter now?"

Greg got it out of his pocket to show it to Nick. "...Right here..."

Nick got off his seat while giving Greg a look. "I think you do want to know what's written inside, you're just scared to read it." He walked out of the room, leaving Greg with a thoughtful look on his face.

* * *

Greg spent the next week contemplating reading it, but couldn't quite bring himself to do it. Instead, every time he tried to read it, he ended up staring at it for minutes before putting it away again. Nick didn't ask him about it, though. He knew that if Greg had read the letter and wanted to talk about it, he would. The two were on their way out to a crime scene, walking towards the elevator of the lab.

"Mr. Sanders?" a man, walking away from the receptionist's desk, walked up to them with an insecure smile on his face, nervously sweeping his wavy brown hair out of his face.

"Yeah." Greg shook the hand the man had reached out to him with a confused look on his face. "Can I help you?"

"I'm Charlie... Novak."

The surprise was very clear in both Nick's and Greg's face. "Hi."

"I should probably..." Nick whispered to Greg while trying to walk away, but Greg grabbed his arm with his shaky hand to keep him from doing so.

"...What are you doing here?" Greg asked bluntly. He was too shocked to mind his manners.

"I'm very sorry to drop in so unexpectedly on you. I know this seems inappropriate to you but I just had to meet you." Charlie Novak was quite a good-looking man, about Greg's height and built, but behind his bright blue eyes seemed to be nothing but hurt and pain.

"...Why?"

"Is there anywhere we could talk in private for a moment?"

"I'm sorry, now's not a good time. Why don't you leave your phone number at the desk and I'll ca..."

Charlie interrupted him. "You already have my number in the letter. I was hoping you'd call me, you know?" There was a litte despair audible in his voice.

"Look, I appreciate the effort, but there's no need for it. I'd rather be left alone."

Charlie gave Greg quite a desperate look. "But **I** need this. There's only two of Neil's victims that are still alive, you know, and you're one of them. I need to talk to you so I can find some closure."

"Hey, I think you're a bit out of line here..." Nick tried to chime in, but Greg cut him off.

"I'm sorry I can't help you with that." Greg walked past Charlie.

"Wait, you don't get it.** I'm** the other victim."


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys!**

**I know most people don't like Mondays, so I decided to give you a little treat to make it easier for you to make it through today!**

**And of course thank you for your sweet Reviews and for following the story and whatnot! You're the best!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

After that surprising information from Novak's son, Greg agreed to talk to him, after all. While Nick drove to their crime scene on his own, Greg and Charlie talked for almost two hours. They sat down in a diner nearby, having a hard time suppressing the tears that needed to fall from their cheeks so badly as they shared their stories. Greg walked back into the lab with a weird face impression Nick had a hard time reading. "How'd it go at the crime scene?" Greg asked as he walked into the evidence room where Nick was working in.

"Good. How about you?"

Greg nodded. "It went well, I think."

"So that's what the letter was all about. Novak abused his own son? Horrible."

"Yeah well that's actually not so surprising. I'm more surprised he even has a son."

Nick nodded. "Do you feel like it helped him, talking to you?"

"I don't think so. He's a broken man, I don't think there's much that can be done to change that." Greg walked over to the light table to start helping Nick.

"So... Did it help you?"

Greg chuckled a bit sarcastically. "Not really. I was touched by his story, but we don't have much in common at all. I mean, first of all, Novak never... You know, his plan with me never came through."

"That hardly changes the fact that he did some horrible emotional damage on you, does it?"

"Of course not." Greg sighed. "It's just hard finding comfort in the fact that other people had it even worse, you know? And it's not that I didn't know that already. I know what kind of a monster Novak was."

"But it's nice that you were able to help his son get some of the baggage off his shoulder, right?" Nick gave him an encouraging smile. "I'm sure it did help him."

Greg nodded, trying to smile, too. "A little, I guess. Yeah."

* * *

After his emotional talk with Novak's son Charlie, Greg thought that this chapter in his life was closed for good. But Charlie Novak wouldn't leave him alone just yet. He walked into the CSI lab almost a week later.

"...Charlie," Nick said surprised as he walked up to him.

"Hello Nick. How are you?"

"...Good, and you?"

Charlie nodded smiling. "I'm fine. Is Greg around?"

"Uhm, I think so..."

"Can you tell him I'm here?"

"Sure but... I was under the impression that you talked things through and that there wasn't anything left to say." Having Charlie around didn't help Greg so Nick didn't appreciate him coming here again.

"Yeah, I did, too. But then it got me thinking, you know? What if we went and visited Neil together?"

"...Excuse me?" Nick asked shocked over this absurd idea. "You want to visit Novak?!"

"In the hospital, yeah. I think Greg and I both could benefit from it."

Nick hastily shook his head. "I doubt Greg will want that."

"Well, I'll have to ask him to find out, right?" Charlie smiled.

"You don't get it," Nick whispered so that the people walking past him won't hear him. "Seeing Novak in the state he's in now was very traumatizing for Greg. He doesn't need to go through this again."

"It's been months, Nick. Your perspective on these things changes over time. I'm sure he'll be fine. Plus, I don't think I can do it alone..."

"I don't think you sh..."

Nick got interrupted by Greg walking up to the two. "Hey Charlie, what are you doing here?" he asked with a smile on his face.

"Hey man. I just couldn't stop thinking about our conversation, you know, and I was wondering if you'd like to join me when I visit Neil in the hospital, you know?"

Nick would've loved to at least prepare Greg for this suggestion, if not protect him from it altogether. But he didn't get the chance and Greg had to deal with it unprepared. "...Visit...? Neil. You mean Novak?"

"Yeah. I know he's in a coma, but I haven't seen him in years and I think it might help us, you know? Telling him everything we think about him, even though he might not hear it." The smile on Charlie was quite an exciting one, freaking Greg out.

"I-I, uh..." He looked to Nick rather helpless. "I don't think I wanna do that."

"Come on, man. Have you seen him since he attacked you?"

"...He did," Nick said, chiming in for shocked Greg while giving Charlie a look. He just told him that.

"Oh, well... Good for you, then, huh? But I haven't and I'd love you to come with me. It's fine if you don't want to see him, but it would mean a lot to me doing this with you."

Greg didn't know what to say, he was confused, appalled by the idea and simply freaked out. He shook his head. "I really don't think it's a good idea. You might think it will help you, but..."

"You got the chance to do it, right? And I need this chance, too."

* * *

Greg couldn't quite remember how Charlie did it, but he somehow managed to convince him to go with him. They met at the hospital a few hours after Greg's shift and walked up to the room Novak was lying in. Greg could feel the tension rising up in him. He was starting to sweat and shake, breathing heavily. Even the thought of facing Novak again, even though he was in a coma and Greg could decide whether or not he wanted to walk into the room made him have a little panic attack.

Charlie, however, didn't seem too fazed by it all. "Okay, are you ready?"

"...What? You said I didn't have to go in there."

"Come on, I thought the fact that you agreed to be here with me was your consent to walking into that room, too."

"...Uh-uh. I don't want to."

Charlie looked a bit surprised. "Greg, Neil doesn't have any power over you anymore. You can go in there. It's okay."

* * *

The next day, Greg was sitting in the break room, sipping on his coffee when Nick walked in. "Hey, how'd it go yesterday? I was waiting for your phone call."

"Sorry, Nick." Greg gave him a sweet smile. "I just couldn't talk about it, needed to let it sink in first."

Nick sat down opposite his friend. "So it was bad, huh?"

"Well, facing Novak actually wasn't. It was the minutes before that were scary, yes, but... It's awfully comforting to get reminded again that he's in a coma."

Nick looked at him a bit puzzled as he took a sip of Greg's coffee. "That's good, isn't it?"

"Yeah... But Charlie's reaction wasn't. He claims he hasn't seen his father in years, and now he sees him in a hospital bed, in a coma. And he just stands there with the most relaxed face impression I've ever seen."

"Relaxed? Are you sure?"

"Oh yeah. I think he even smiled for a moment."

Nick remembered the day Greg saw Novak lying in a hospital bed. He remembered like it was yesterday, when he walked out of that room with a weird smile on his face. He giggled nervously before breaking out into tears. He didn't see Charlie's face, but figured it might've been a normal, nervous reaction just like Greg's back then. "So... Did he say anything to him like he said he wanted to?"

Greg shook his head. "Just asked me how I felt about it. He almost seemed disappointed when I told him it wasn't as bad as expected."

"Oh come on. I don't believe that. Even if you don't recognize it, it was a very emotional moment, you probably misinterpreted his expressions. Or maybe even confused them with your own."

"...I think I can differentiate between my emotions and his, don't you think?" Greg gave him a look.

"Well you said it yourself. Thinking about seeing him was scarier than actually doing it. You were surprised at how little you actually cared, right?"

"...You might be right. I hate it when you're right."

Nick chuckled. "Maybe you just want to see something off about that guy because the fact that he's Novak's son is just too weird. I know I feel that way."

"...You do?"

"Yeah sure. It's weird that he tried to contact you and even weirder that he keeps on trying to spend time with you."

"...That's not what he's doing. He's trying to process his childhood traumas, I guess."

"I'm not saying this guy isn't trustworthy, I'm just saying it's a little weird."


	3. Chapter 3

**No new CSI ep tonight? Don't worry, I got you covered! :)**

* * *

The next few days Greg was slowly trying to forget the recent events, with rather good results. Both him and Nick thought that Charlie Novak left their lives for good, but once again he proved them wrong. "Hey Nick!"

"Charlie... Nice to see you... again." Nick gave him a rather wary look.

"Is Greg around?"

"Uhm, I'm afraid he's not. Can I help you?"

Charlie gave him a big grin. "Yes you can. Is there somewhere we could sit down and talk about how Greg's ordeal with Neil affected you?"

"...Excuse me?"

"Well I think I heard all there is from Greg, but I'd like to know what it was like for you, as a close friend, you know?"

Nick raised his eyebrows. "I'm not sure Greg would feel comfortable if I talked to you about it and I know I sure as hell don't."

"Come on, it'll make you feel better. To get it off your chest, you know? I'm sure there's things you always wanted to tell Greg about your struggle to cope with this but couldn't because, you know, he's the victim."

Nick shook his head. Charlie was spot-on, but he didn't think he had any right to ask these questions. "You're crossing a line here I don't feel comfortable with, okay? I understand that you want to deal with your father's crimes and what he did to you, but I don't think I should have any part in it. You better back off a bit."

"I'm sure it'll help Greg, too, to read your thoughts."

"I'm not sure how... wait. Read my thoughts, what are you talking about?"

Charlie gave Nick a weird grin. "Whoops. That shouldn't have slipped out of my mouth just yet. Is there anywhere we can talk now?"

"...Right here looks pretty good to me."

Charlie sighed rather annoyed. "Alright, fine. Here's the thing. I'm not Novak's son. I'm a journalist and I'm supposed to write an uncover-story about Novak, his crimes and his victims. And since Greg is the only survivor, I figured I could give it a try."

Nick's eyeballs were close to popping out of his face. "...What?! You've been lying to him all this time?!"

"Look, it's not the first time I write a story like that. When I call the victims or write them letters, asking to tell me their stories, I never get them to do it. When I pose as another victim, I make it easier for them to open up about their horrible past. Once I tell them the truth it's not that hard to make them give me their consents for printing the story."

"...I don't believe this! This'll never work!"

"Oh it works, believe me. My team and I are writing a book about several serial murder-rapists. I already finished five stories in Nevada alone. And once I come clean with Greg, number six will be a sealed deal as well."

"...I can't believe you. How can you be so cool about exploiting victims? You're lying to them, you're betraying them! You should be ashamed of yourself!"

"Listen, it's easy, alright? The book will happen either way and so will the Novak-coverage. Whether or not Greg will be involved in this so that we won't have to make too many assumptions, that's up to him."

"...So you're basically going to blackmail him? If he doesn't sign some damned contract you'll lie about what happened to him?"

Charlie chuckled. "It's nothing like that. I'll never say I'll lie in my book because I won't. But I made lots of assumptions over what Novak did to him before I came here. It's simply up to him if I use these notes or the ones I made after talking to him."

"...What... No, I... This can't be legal!"

The journalist shrugged his shoulder. "Show me a law that forbids any of the things I did. There is none because what I do is perfectly legal. Moral, meh, probably not so much. But it sure as hell is legal and I'll get my story." He gave Nick a confident smile.

Nick hastily shook his head. "You don't think I'll let you anywhere near Greg again, do you?"

"I'm not sure you'll have a choice, buddy." He patted Nick's back as he saw Greg walk into the lab. He walked up to him with a big smile. "Hey there!"

"...Hey, Charlie. What a surprise." Greg looked a little bit annoyed to see him again. He didn't like his pushy ways and also didn't want to get reminded of Novak all the time.

"Hey Greg, we need to talk. Now?" Nick said nervously.

"You have the rest of the night to talk to each other!" Charlie laughed as he patted Greg's back. "I need to talk to you now, alright? It's important."

"No, Greg. Let me just..."

Charlie interrupted Nick. "How about I buy you a cup of coffee at the diner around the corner?"

"...Uh..." Greg looked at his watch, then at Nick. "Alright, I guess I can spare a few minutes. Talk to you later, Nick, alright?"

"But Greg, I..."

Charlie gently pushed Greg forward so that they would quickly leave the lab, being successful with his pushy ways once again.

* * *

Greg walked back into the lab half an hour later. He had a devastated, almost empty look on his face, walking into the break room and sitting down on the couch. He sighed. "Why didn't I see this coming?"

Nick gave him a sympathetic look. "How could you have? Took me by surprise, too."

"...You knew?"

"He just told me before you showed up. I tried to talk to you, you know?"

"...Right. Sorry." He buried his face in his hands.

"...So... What exactly happened? Are you alright?"

"I feel a sense of betrayal I never thought I could feel, but otherwise I'm fine, I guess."

"You don't seem to be very angry. I almost punched that asshole in the face. How come you don't feel that way?"

"Because a broken man can't feel anger, Nick," Greg said in a weird, calm way as he looked back up.

"Oh come on. Don't let that jerk have that much power over you."

"No, it's true. I mean, I... I can't even put in words what I'm feeling right now. I feel... Numb. Yeah, I guess that's the word. Numb."

"You didn't sign his contract, though, did you?"

"Of course not!" Greg jumped off of the couch. He wasn't broken by Charlie's betrayal, he was just a little bent. "Well I contemplated it in a moment of utter desperation. But then I reminded myself that he was the source of these feelings and I left."

"Good. Good!" Nick rose up from his seat, too. "You can't cave in, no matter what he threatens to write!"

"Yeah!" Greg felt confident and determined for a second. But only for a second. "...Wait, what do you mean?"

"Didn't he tell you he'll write his assumptions if you don't sign?"

"No... What kind of assumptions did he talk about?"

Nick shrugged. "I don't know, I don't think he mentioned it, but I mean, come one."

"...What?"

"Do I really have to say it, Greg? Anyone who doesn't know would assume Novak, you know, raped you."

"...But... The news all said he didn't. ...Because he didn't."

"Yeah but they also said he attempted to and... That's not the point. The point is, don't let this weasel win."

* * *

Both Nick and Greg came out of their conversation much stronger and more determined than before. They agreed to forget about Charlie and go on with their lives. But Greg only managed to keep his determination up for two hours. "I want to call him!" He rushed into the trace lab where Nick was talking with Hodges. "I can't stop thinking about him! I need to do this!"

Hodges chuckled. "Who is this guy you want to do?"

"Oh shut up. How old are you, twelve?" Greg gave him an irritated look. "Nick, tell me again why this is a bad idea!"

"Because nobody will care. He won't mention your name, just like the news didn't. There's no reason to call this guy, let alone sign that contract." Nick gave him a reassuring smile.

"What are you two talking about?" Hodges looked confused. Normally, Greg would tell him to leave the two alone, but he decided that it wouldn't hurt to get another opinion on this subject as he was starting to question Nick's, so he told him about it.

"So? What do you think?"

"Wow..." Hodges sat down, looking a little overwhelmed. "...Why did I ask."

"What? Come on! You have to have an opinion on this, don't you?" Greg gave him the irritated look again.

"Of course I do, but I don't think it's my place to give you any tips on this one."

"Seriously? This one time when I actually want the nosy, self-confident Hodges, you show me that there's a retained one, too?"

Hodges raised an eyebrow. "I'm so sick and tired of you people acting like I'm this one-dimensional douche that's always shoving everyone his opinion down their throats! I'm not!"

"...Since when?! From the very beginning of you working here you did it!"

"Wait, guys, this is getting a little out of hand," Nick said quite amused. This was a rather serious topic but these two were fighting over nothing right now. "Hodges, Greg's asking you for your opinion although he's well aware it's a pretty delicate subject. So what would you do?"

Hodges nodded. "Well, I wouldn't want anyone to write any crap about me that never happened."

"Thank you!" Greg exclaimed.

"But..." Hodges gave Greg a look for interrupting him. "It's probably one of these overdone, sensationalistic books no one with a brain will ever read, anyway."

"Exactly. It's not a science book they'll give students to read, right?" Nick said reassuring.

"...No, the target audience are probably some weird, perverted guys who get off on these kinds of stories. Much better, huh?" Greg gave them both a look. "I'm calling him!"

"No!" Nick grabbed the phone out of Greg's hand.

"Give it back!"

"Listen, you'll regret this. Maybe not tomorrow or in five months, but you will as soon as the book is out and he publishes every personal and emotional information you gave that sick bastard. There will come a day you'll never forgive yourself for it if you do this and I won't let that happen!"

"But Nick, I..." Greg gave him a desperate look. "What if anybody I know reads this?"

"So what? He won't mention your name and everybody who has enough information about you and the case to figure out it's you he's writing about knows better, anyway, right?"

Greg nodded rather calmly.

"And if he gives any hint about who you are, you'll sue his ass, right?" Nick gave him a smile.

"Not sure that'll help me after the book gets published, but..." Greg shrugged. "You're probably right."


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys!**

**This story was more of a short story (at least compared to most of my other stories) I hope you enjoyed it! So here goes the last chapter. New story about to follow, soon!**

**Big Love,**

**pikapikatchu**

* * *

Greg rejected the next few calls from Charlie, although he was tempted more than a few times to just give in and sign the contract. But he knew Nick was right. Stripping down emotionally in a sensationalized book like the one Charlie was writing certainly wasn't the better option. But he wanted to make sure Charlie wouldn't give up any personal information that would make it easy to connect Greg to the Novak case in any way.

"You son of a bitch! I'll got to hand it to you, I did not see that coming!" Charlie walked up to Greg in a rather aggressive manner, causing Nick to step between the two.

"Whoa, what's going on?" he asked as he pushed Charlie back while they all were standing in front of the lab.

Greg just stood there with a grin on his face.

"Tell your lawyer to back off!" Charlie tried to get past Nick, but the CSI wouldn't let him.

"What the hell is this about, Greg?" Nick asked confused.

"Well, after Charlie backstabbed me I decided I needed to do something to protect myself. I can't do anything against him writing a bad book full of lies and assumptions, but I can keep him from publishing anything that could expose my identity. I hired a lawyer to make sure that won't happen. Looks like he found something, huh?"

"Oh don't worry, I made sure no one found out that you're the boring guy Novak almost raped. Your little secret's safe!" Charlie was obviously outraged.

"Really? Then how about the other poor souls you're trying to exploit?"

"Oh shut up!"

"It's fine, you don't have to tell me. I already know. My lawyer told me about it all. You told Nick most people signed your damn contracts, but hardly anyone did. You described four of them a little too detailed and now you have to make some changes to your book, right?" Greg was still having a big grin on his face.

Nick chuckled impressed while Charlie was getting angrier. "The book's going to happen either way, you know?!"

"Yeah, whatever. I don't care. But don't ever come here again, you got that?"

With the most angered face impression the two CSIs have seen in a while, Charlie stormed off.

Nick patted Greg on the shoulder with a proud look on his face. "This halted their production for a few weeks, huh?"

"I sure hope so." He smiled back.

"So you're really cool with this?"

Greg shrugged. "I'm not overjoyed by it, obviously. But I can live with it. What hurts a lot more is the fact that I trusted this idiot and told him things I never told anyone before. Not even you."

Nick nodded sympathetically, not knowing how to comfort his friend.

Greg looked at his watch. "...You know what? We still got a few minutes of our lunch break left. How about we go to that diner around the corner he used to take me to and I tell you these things?"

Nick looked surprised. "...Really? Do you want that?"

"Well it's not that I didn't want you to know about these things. I just didn't know how to express them. Oddly enough, Charlie helped me with this. We might as well gain some profit out of his betrayal, right? ...But of course only if you want to listen."

Nick gave Greg a smile. "You know I do."

* * *

**Ende.**


End file.
